'Levitated Mass': Moving a Boulder

A 340-ton boulder is the star of a new documentary on the rock's journey from a quarry to a Los Angeles museum.

A 340-ton boulder passes through La Mirada Park, Calif. The monumental rock was the main material for a public sculpture by the artist Michael Heizer, who installed it in its current resting place at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art.
Tom Vinetz…

A crowd gathers at the intersection of Western and Adams Boulevards in Los Angeles to watch the boulder go by. At 680,000 pounds, the immense piece of granite necessitated the building of a custom 206-wheel rig to haul it more than 100 miles on public roads.
Doug Pray…

Opening day for the sculpture at LACMA. The artwork opened in 2012 and has established itself as a landmark ever since.
Danielle Duff…

Doug Pray, director of 'Levitated Mass,' which premieres next week in Los Angeles before engagements in other cities throughout the fall. The documentary chronicles the history of the rock project and its many complications, which required triumphs of engineering to solve.
Diana Rathe…

The finished sculpture at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art. Outside on the museum's grounds, the boulder sits atop a sunken walkway, from which passersby can look up and see the rock suspended, as if floating overhead.
Doug Pray…